SQUEEZE TORQUE

There you are, new carbon bike frame, all the parts out of their bubble wrap, heart beating with excitement to get riding on the one day when the sun is shining and your ‘fun sheriff’ has given you clearance.
With your set of Allen keys, on goes the stem, the steam post and finally the handle bars ready for the tape..except while tightening the handle bar clamp you noted a dull crunching sound. Better not to look…bar tape goes on, all good, just before you mount your new steed another niggle enters your head..did I tighten the seat post enough?
When we all had aluminium and steel bikes, tightening up was a no-brainer. I am afraid carbon bikes are definitely not as robust. I can’t stress enough how important it is to use a torque wrench on a carbon bike. No guessing and no crunching sounds you simply can’t reverse!
Their are many different price points for torque wrenches. You want something starting at about 2NM. The upper limit on bikes can go up to about 40NT but for many 20NM top end will cover a wide range of applications. I have seen bargains on Ebay for £20. Check to see that you can fit an adapter for the Allen key bits. On the other hand why not pop into your local bike store and get them to tweak up all the bolts for you.
Happy riding